Author
Topic: The character naming thread

I've done this many times before and figured it was time for it once again. Let's talk about naming characters. Whether we play video game RPGs, tabletop RPGs, or whatnot, we are often tasked with naming characters. Often many of us stick with the default name of a main character and not name it, but what if it's a blank slate?

For me, I always prefer to use a female character than a male, so if her name is blank, I usually name her Cresta as a play off my username, kinda like how I'd name a character Deza as a play on my old username Blademaster Dezo. Of course, if it's a game like Megami Tensei that takes place in modern day Japan, I name her Sayori, because that's my favorite Japanese girl's name.

If it's a male character... in any given Megami Tensei game (or game where my main is a Japanese teenager), I name him Yuuya Narumi because that was the main characters name in the Persona 1 drama CD. It's accepted that it's Naoya Toumou in some P1 comic, but Yuuya Narumi is more obscure. I don't really have a go-to when naming a more traditional fantasy male character. Sometimes I'll just use my name, but I'll often make up something random.

Oh, there are those moments when you rename characters the second time around to make funny lines. Like who didn't want to rename Amarant to something filthy when he says, "Some call me The Flaming Amarant."

Usually, if I get to play a male roguish swashbuckler who dual wields, I'll call the character "Ken". It comes from a tabletop character I had. That character was hilarious and a complete paranoiac.

In MMOs I'll usually make a girl and call her Yumei. It's the name I gave to my first MMO character in RO and I've pretty much kept the tradition in every MMO after.If I make an alt, I'll just name it something stupid/witty. Like my alt DK in WoW was called Shiverme and I made up the guild Timbers (so it displayed "Shiverme <Timbers>")

I named my P4 MC Nagisa Nagi (this is in Japanese order of name)I'm so damn witty.

A running gag my sister and I have is that whenever they give us an opportunity to name a character/place (like farm in rune factory), I have to instinctively name it Jason Frank. I believe I'm up to the mid 30s now (as in, Jason Frank the XXXIVth)? There has to be at least one character named Jason Frank and/or one area/building/etc. named Jason Frank.Mhuauaua

If I can name a character I will name that character. When I used to play RPGs with a steady group of friends we'd stick our own names for the heroes. It made playing any of the FF games a load of fun. If I play an RPG with my Pen and Paper group we always name the hero after Robertson the Dwarf, our completely Machiavellian hero from Dragon Age. I must tell you Robertson Shepard was probably the worst spectre of all time.

Other than those I don't do anything consistently. I just try to come up with names that I like.

I really love the way my brother names things after stuff in-game. For example, his SMTIV MC was Atlus, his SMT3 MC was Nocturne and Squall in FF8 was Gunblade.

The only times I don't go with the default name is when I feel it's lame. For example, I thought the name "El" in Revelations: The Demon Slayer was kinda lousy, so I renamed him to Elk. It doesn't detract too far from his default name, but is a lot cooler. Maybe not quite 20% cooler, but cool enough. EDIT: Another one was renaming "Eldin" to "Nile" in Lufia: Ruins of Lore, using letters already in his name. Game was terrible though; totally beyond redemption.

I remember someone once saying a younger sibling accidentally renamed "Cloud" to "Haze" in FF7 and the name Haze is definitely cooler than Cloud, though "Haze Strife" doesn't quite roll off the tongue like "Cloud Strife" does.

And who didn't rename Barret to "Mr. T?" I mean, this line is just priceless when you do: Aerith: "...thank you, Mr. Mr. T!"Barret: "Who you callin' Mr. Mr. T? That don't sound right!

I remember there was a time I used to rename characters after me because it made me feel like I was part of the game. Nowadays, I like having a fresh identity in a new world. It's like with my band; I use a stage name because I evoke a different side of me; a different person. It's almost like Clark Kent at work and Superman with the band.

The first time I ever played Chrono Trigger I was doing my regular thing renaming people whatever I felt, which happened to include naming Frog: Glen. Thus, making the scene where he is a human kind of off and I didn't notice he was missing an 'n'. I didn't know his name was actually Glenn until months later on a forum. To this day I always name him Glen.

The best name I ever gave to Crono was Grono. My friends and I were going to name him Gary, but went back and didn't notice the G hadn't been erased. In certain company the game is only acknowledge as Grono Trigger.

I remember when I was 8/9 and FF7 was announced I was so excited I started playing FFIV and naming them all FF7 names....it got confusing really fast.

Usually name the ladies Dice, or sometimes 'murreal naaym'.

For the fellas, I usually go with "Dante" since adventures usually involves going through hell and back.

My brother is a real whiz for names. He names them weird shit like "McBellz", "Pants", and "Mirrosh"[?] and "Gary" or whatever the hell else. Sometimes he gives the girls a feminine version of his name: "Bobina".

Also since I went with the names in the instruction manual for Secret of Mana (kinda) I kinda make associations to it whenever I run into a videogame protagonist named Jeff, hence why I have interest in Natural Doctrine (aside from being an SRPG, which also kinda reminds me of those early PSX RPGs like Arc the Lad and Vandal Hearts).

I usually go by canon names when presented with them. I don't ever feel the need to take ownership of a story's characters unless the game leads me in that direction. When I have created characters like generics in a Disgaea or Tactics Ogre or a blank-slate protagonist like in a Dragon Quest or Mass Effect I use the male names Malcolm, Hector, Eltrio, Dante, and Randal; for females I have recurring names Rose, Lily, Iris, Godiva, and Samie. Those male names are from specific video game characters, and the female names are either my family's dogs or my ex-girlfriends.

Oh, one other thing I do for generics - I use the names of various colors in languages other than English (...about 90% French or Spanish). My teams in Disgaea 3 and 4 had Azul, Rojo, Verde, Jaune, Blanche, Noire, and Murasaki.

to Nanaki. That makes the whole "Who's Nanaki?" "Nanaki is Nanaki" conversation even funnier.

Obviously playing FF games mean you "learn roman numerals". But my brother fucked it up when he looked at it quick and called him "Red-8" instead of "13". ....it kinda stuck for us since it was shorter to say and rolled off the tongue better.